Sweeter the Kiss
by redskiez
Summary: After heroically completing a mission given to them by the Hokage, the Akatsuki are given a free-of-charge day out at the village hidden in the leaves. That is the first time Obito and Deidara meet.


Unbeta'd.

* * *

"We're welcoming the Akatsuki tomorrow," Kakashi says off-handedly.

"What?" Obito asks, stilling his hand. The alcohol in his cup sways at the sudden lack of movement.

"Tomorrow," Kakashi says slowly, "the Akatsuki is coming."

"Fuck," Obito says. He slams his drink down on the table and leans back. The night air blows wind on his heated face and he sighs. "Why didn't you remind me earlier? I'm too drunk for this."

"It's tomorrow," Kakashi says, shrugging.

"I know it's tomorrow," Obito says, "but couldn't you have mentioned this to me earlier? I wouldn't have come out otherwise. I'm going to get a really bad hangover tomorrow."

"Just drink some water before you sleep and make sure you get coffee in the morning," Kakashi says. "I heard it works."

"You heard it works?" Obito frowns. He pushes his glass toward Kakashi and his teammate accepts it. "You never got a hangover before?"

"Doesn't happen to me." Kakashi takes off his mask, quickly, and downs the entire glass. He replaces his mask and sets the glass down. Obito shakes his head.

"I don't believe you," he says. He waves the bartender over and the man refills their drinks. "I really don't."

"Bet you tomorrow, I'll not be hungover."

"How much?"

"I'll think about the amount tomorrow."

"You can't," Obito says, "that's not how betting works."

"Alright," Kakashi says. "How about we start small? 150 yen."

"150 yen?" Obito scratches his chin. He's growing a bit of a beard and the hair on the undamaged side of his face makes a scraping noise. "I'll take that action."

"Alright," Kakashi says. The men shake on it and down their drinks.

"Ugh," Obito complains. He leans back once again to feel the cool night air. "I'm going to regret this in the morning."

"Hell yeah, you are."

"Huh?" Obito sits properly, craning his neck to see where Rin is.

"What are you boys still doing out?" Rin asks as she walks up to the open bar. "It's late and we have a meeting tomorrow!"

"Ugh," Obito complains again. He buries his face in his hands. "Does everyone remember but me!?"

"Yeah," Kakashi says. "We were talking about it with Minato this afternoon but you were late so you missed that part of the conversation."

"Damn it."

"It's okay, Obito," Rin says. She places her hands on Obito's shoulders and gives him a gentle massage. "We can re-brief you in the morning, once you're sober enough."

"I don't think my hangover will let me retain information," Obito mumbles.

Rin chuckles, patting him now. "My family's got an age-old cure for hangovers, I'll bring it to you in the morning."

"And don't forget your coffee," Kakashi says.

"And you need to drink some water tonight, or else the cure won't work."

"Okay, okay," Obito says, waving his hand in the air. "I'll drink water tonight."

* * *

Obito walks up to the meeting point at six in the morning and everyone expresses surprise.

"You're early," Minato comments.

"Too loud," Obito mutters. He sips from his travel mug and makes a face.

"Too hot?" Kakashi teases.

"Shut your mouth hole," Obito says.

"Nice words that you're using," Kakashi replies.

"Here, 'bito," Rin says, sauntering up to him happily. She holds a glass out and Obito squints at it.

"What the hell is that?" Obito asks.

"My family's age-old cure for hangovers," Rin says.

Obito takes the glass from Rin and stares at it. "Are these egg yolks?" he asks when his brain registers what he's looking at.

"Yup," Rin says with a grin. "Three raw egg yolks."

Kakashi snorts. Minato doesn't look at him. Obito sighs.

"You have to drink it all in one go," Rin says, "otherwise it won't work."

Obito sighs again. Taking a deep breath, he brings the edge of the glass to his lips but he retches before he can even tilt it.

"You have to drink it," Kakashi says. "The Akatsuki will be arriving at any minute now."

"Why did you have them come so early?" Obito whines. He takes another deep breath and throws his head all the way back, letting the egg yolks slide out of the glass and down his throat.

He struggles to swallow and then makes a face when he's done.

"Whoa, he actually did it," Kakashi says.

Obito holds the glass out and someone takes it from him. He sputters as he tries to keep the yolks in and then he decides to take another swig of his coffee. It doesn't really help.

"Come on, now, team," Minato says, waving his hands to gather their attention. "I'll do a quick run-over what we're here to do today because I know someone has already forgotten."

Obito groans.

"We're going to greet the Akatsuki here because they finished a tremendous mission for us a few days ago," Minato says. "Lady Tsunade has asked us to take them around town and let them enjoy themselves free-of-charge for their heroism."

"That's going to end well," Obito mutters.

"I like that," Kakashi says. "I like this," he says to Rin, gesturing to Obito.

Rin nods. "Hungover him is way better," she agrees.

"Shut up," Obito snaps.

"Oh," Kakashi says, gesturing to himself. "I'm fine, by the way. So you owe me 150 yen."

"Shut up," Obito says again. He takes another swig of the coffee.

Minato sighs at his team's antics but he smiles nonetheless.

They stand for around another ten minutes, bickering in a hushed tone to spare Obito's poor ears when one of the border guards announces that they see the Akatsuki in the distance.

"Great," Obito says. He shakes his mug and finds it empty.

"Guess our first stop is to a coffee shop," Rin says. Obito smiles gratefully at her and transports the mug to Kamui.

"Can you do that with the glass, too?" Rin asks, holding it out.

"Ask Kakashi to do it, I have a headache."

"I can't do it so close."

"I don't care," Obito replies.

Kakashi shrugs and just takes the glass from Rin.

The group of mercenaries arrive at the gate, welcomed first by the border patrol and then greeted by Team Minato.

Obito, in his sluggish state, scans the members as he tries to remember their names. His mind does not cooperate. His gaze lingers on the blonde one as he tries to think of their names.

"Hello," Minato says, sporting a kind smile. "How was the trip here?"

"It was fucking great," a silver-haired member says, tossing his scythe over his shoulders and hanging his arms off of the staff. "Now, can we get some nice breakfast because I did not eat before I left that hostel."

"Yes, of course," Rin says, gesturing to the inside of the village. "If you would follow us, we will take you to what I argue is the best café in the village."

"You don't have to," a woman says. "We all ate."

"Konan!" the silver-haired one shouts. "I am hungry!"

"You're always hungry, Hidan, hm," the blonde one says. Obito frowns.

"Of course I am! Walking takes energy, blondie, and Kakuzu is a bitch for not letting me grab a snack on the way here."

"All of us woke up in time for the free breakfast that was part of the package we paid for," an old man whom Obito assumes is Kakazu says. "You were just the idiot who wanted to sleep for five more minutes."

"Sounds like someone I know," Kakashi whispers to Rin. Obito smacks Kakashi's arm but ends up grunting at the feeling himself. "Don't hurt yourself, champ," Kakashi laughs.

"Shut up," Obito says. "Rin, help me."

"Sorry, can't help you," Rin says. "You're the one who hit him."

"He insulted me," Obito pouts. "Can we please go to the café, please?"

"Come on, follow us," Minato says, gesturing once more and the entire group begins to walk.

On the way to the café, everyone but Obito tries to mingle with the Akatsuki. From the bits and pieces of the conversation, Obito's mind begins to whir again and he can pair a name with the faces.

Obito glances over his shoulder and finds that the one known as Deidara is already staring back. He doesn't think much of it and turns back to the road.

They let the Akatsuki in before they enter themselves. As the entire village is informed of the arrival of such special guests, they are allowed to sit in a private room usually reserved for the higher-ranking ninjas of the village.

The group sits and arrange themselves properly. The young-looking man, who Obito knows is Sasori of the Red Sand and should be around his age, sits the furthest away.

"He doesn't eat," Konan tells him when she notices his confused expression.

"Huh," Obito says.

A waiter comes around to take everyone's order, which happens to just mostly be coffee. Hidan is the only one who wants to eat a proper meal.

Their coffees arrive at record time. Obito takes his cup of coffee and takes a deep sip, draining half of its contents before it even cools down. Rin and Minato watch him in horror.

"That was quick, hm," Deidara comments.

"I need it," Obito defends.

"I can see that." Deidara gives him a one over and then scrunches his nose. "Are you sick or something?"

"Do I look sick?" Obito asks. He turns to look at Deidara and the other man gives him another one over.

"Yeah, you look a little pale to me."

"Great," Obito mutters, turning back to nurse his coffee. "That's just great."

Kakashi and Rin chuckles. Obito shoots Kakashi a glare and just looks at Rin.

Obito feels like someone, probably Deidara, is staring at him as he continues to sip from his warm drink. The caffeine eventually works its way up to his mind and he feels more clear-headed than he has been for the past hour.

He decides to tune in on the conversations the Akatsuki are having with the rest of Team Minato. There are many interesting things that the Akatsuki get themselves into and, not for the first time, Obito is glad that the Akatsuki are not working against them.

They finish their coffee and Obito lingers near the end of the group to get away from the noise as much as possible. He watches as Rin takes the lead, guiding the group through the village and the shops.

He looks away from Rin when he feels someone brush up against his shoulder. Obito is surprised to find Deidara standing next to him. He thought he was up at the front with Hidan.

"Hey," Deidara says. "Are you feeling a little bit better?"

"Hi," Obito replies. "I'm feeling better than I was earlier this morning, yes. Thank you for asking."

Deidara glances at Rin and then look back at Obito. "I don't think I caught your name, hm."

"Obito," Obito says, reaching out to shake Deidara's hand. He starts when he feels something wet slide across his palm.

"Oh, sorry," Deidara says, letting Obito's hand go and showing his palm. The mouth on his hand drools and sports a goofy grin that matches the one on Deidara's face. "They can misbehave sometimes."

Obito laughs, wiping his hand on his pants. "I guess they kind of have a mind on their own, do they?"

"You can say that," Deidara says. "I'm Deidara, by the way."

"Oh, I know," Obito says.

"Are you an Uchiha?" Deidara asks after a moment of silence.

"Huh?" Obito turns to Deidara. He frowns when he sees Deidara staring back and looks away, finding Deidara's gaze a little too intense. "I am."

"I can tell," Deidara says. He gestures to Itachi. "You look kind of like Itachi."

"Ugh." Obito rolls his eyes. "I sure hope not. He looks old considering how young he is."

Deidara snorts. "I think it's the scars."

"You think?" Obito reaches up and pokes at the right side of his face.

"What happened?"

"I got into an accident," Obito shrugs. "I don't actually remember most of it."

"It looks cool on you," Deidara says instead of offering his condolences. "It's kind of hot, yeah."

"Kind of?" Obito laughs, feeling slightly embarrassed as he had never been hit on by a guy before. He looks at Rin, still at the front of the group and happily explaining to Konan and Pain about the parks in Konoha and that they were the best to hang out in to just soak in the sun.

"You dating her?" Deidara asks.

"Huh?" Obito snaps his head back to Deidara, heat rising up his neck and to his cheeks. "No, no, I'm not," he says quickly, shoving his hands into his pant pockets. "I'm not dating her."

Deidara makes a noise of acknowledgment. "So, you're single, then?"

Obito's gaze flickers at Rin and how Kakashi is just loitering a bit behind her, making friendly and quiet conversation with Sasori and Itachi.

"Yeah," Obito says, looking back at Deidara. "I am."

Deidara gives him a boyish grin. "Cool," he says.

"How old are you?" Obito asks.

"Nineteen."

"Ah," Obito says, walking just a little faster. "That's a bit young."

"I'm part of a mercenary group," Deidara says. "Morals aren't exactly my thing, yeah."

"I guess so," Obito says.

Out of everyone, Obito is surprised to find that Hidan and Kisame were the ones who were interested in buying things the most. They carry armfuls of shopping backs from clothing stores and convenient stores alike, while the rest of the Akatsuki just shake their heads at them.

"It's not like you're even going to wear those clothes, Hidan," Kakuzu says.

Hidan sticks his tongue out at Kakuzu and just walks away to rummage through another store.

Kisame watches the entire thing while stuffing his face with sushi. Obito watches him in horror.

"Isn't that technically cannibalism?" Obito asks to no one in particular.

Deidara rests his arm on his shoulder and Obito startles a little at the sudden closeness. "He's not actually a fish," Deidara says with a grin. "But if you have to think of him as one, sharks are cannibalistic."

"That is not an interesting fact for me to know," Obito says.

When dinnertime rolls around, Hidan once again announces loudly that he is hungry.

"But I want to go to a bar," Hidan says.

"Deidara is too young to go to a bar," Konan replies.

"Sucks to be him, then," Hidan says and drapes an arm around Rin's shoulder. "You know one of the best bars around this place, lady?"

Rin shoots Kakashi a glance, who automatically glides over and answers the question for her.

Obito sighs.

"We can't leave Deidara alone," Kisame says. "He's a nice kid."

"Leaving children alone has never been a problem before," Sasori says.

"Shut up," Deidara says.

"We can split up," Konan says.

"I can take Deidara to a restaurant nearby if you guys want to go to the bar," Obito offers.

Deidara glances at him. "Yeah, Konan," he says, "he can take me."

Kisame snorts and Konan rolls her eyes. "Fine," Konan says. She glares at Obito and points a finger at him before waving the two of them away. "I'll tell the rest of them."

"Don't go anywhere that requires special taste," Kisame says with a toothy grin.

"What?" Obito asks.

"Ignore them," Deidara says. "I saw a ramen shop nearby, I want to try that, yeah." Deidara grabs Obito's arm and tugs him away.

"Just make sure it's just ramen!" Kisame shouts after them.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sasori asks.

"What the hell was that?" Obito asks when they are out of ear-shot.

"Don't know." Deidara shrugs. He pokes his head in the ramen stall and is greeted by the owner, who recognizes the pattern of his cloak and exclaims. "Yeah, yeah," Deidara mutters, sitting down.

"He's with me," Obito says to the owner, who calms down a little and gives Obito a sheepish smile.

"Is it just you two?" the owner asks.

"Yeah," Deidara replies.

"I see," the owner says. "Couple's meal?"

"Oh, my god." Obito buries his face in his hands.

"Sure, why not?" Deidara says. Obito can hear the grin in his words.

The owner gives them a thumbs up and begins to prepare their food.

"It's free, so why not?" Deidara asks Obito, leaning just a little bit too close.

"It's called a couple's meal for a reason," Obito says.

"You ate here before?"

"No, I haven't," Obito says, "but 'couple's meal' doesn't really bode well."

"You saying you're against same-sex couples?"

"No," Obito says hurriedly. "No, no, that's not what I'm saying at all. Please, don't misunderstand me. I was just being nice because you would be left out and I know your teammates might have wanted to join the rest of them in that bar and..."

"Be cool, man," Deidara chuckles. "I'm joking, hm."

Obito sighs, turning to face the front again. "Sorry, I'm not against you or anything."

"No, I know," Deidara says, leaning close again. "I can tell." He winks. Obito feels heat spread from the root of his hair all the way across his scalp.

The owner comes back with two bowls of ramen. He places them in front of the two and tells them to enjoy their meals. Deidara, without a second glance, takes a pair of chopsticks and begins to dig in.

Obito peers down at the toppings, not surprised at all when he finds the heart-shaped narutomaki and a pair of everything. He sighs and thanks the chef of the meal and digs in.

Obito pays for the meal when they're done, asking of the receipt so that he can get reimbursed. The two of them head out of the ramen stall and wander the streets, passing by the bar that the rest of their team is supposed to be in.

When Obito peers into through the windows, he sees Kakashi passed out on the table while Hidan is posing beside him. The rest of the group seem like they have no interest in what Hidan is doing and are just chilling amongst each other.

"I don't think they're ready to go yet," Obito says, turning back to Deidara.

"That's fine," Deidara says. "I want to walk around for a bit."

"Alright," Obito says and takes Deidara around.

The nightlife in the part of the village they are in isn't as rowdy as the main areas, but Deidara doesn't seem to mind anyway. As they walk, Obito is keenly aware of how Deidara is leaning closer and closer to him, to the point where their shoulders and knuckles brush against each other with every step they take.

Obito sighs, unsure what to do. When Deidara brushes knuckles with him again, though, he decides to take the hint and grabs Deidara's hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Deidara smirk to himself.

They wander around aimlessly, passing by shops after shops. They eventually make their way back to the bar and find that the group is trying to haul a drunken Kakuzu and Hidan off of each other, while Minato is desperately trying to reawaken Kakashi.

Obito glances at Deidara and the two of them break into goofy grins.

They watch as the team stumble out of the bar and into the night. Konan, Pain, and Sasori seem to be the only ones who aren't on any degree of drunkenness.

"Hello," Konan greets Obito over the mess of bodies struggling to stand straight between them. "Did you have a good meal with Deidara?"

"Yes," Obito says. He clears his throat and lets go of Deidara's hand, using it to scratch the back of his neck.

"What did you have?"

"Uh," Obito stutters. Deidara grins and jumps in.

"We had a couple's meal at a ramen stall."

Konan narrows her eyes at Obito.

"I didn't order it!" Obito says.

"Sure," Konan replies. "Are we going to be staying at a place on our own tonight?" she asks Minato.

"Yes," Minato says.

"Great. Come on, Deidara, let's go. Help your teammates."

Deidara rolls his eyes and gives Obito another wink, causing him to blush again, and bends down to help pick Hidan up off the ground.

The rest of the sober members of the group help carry the drunken ones. They arrive at the inn that is booked out for the Akatsuki.

Deidara shoves Hidan into the building and turns to face Obito. "Are you going to come in, yeah?"

"I'd rather keep my head on my neck," Obito says. Konan is standing just behind Deidara. The killing intent coming from her is strong.

"She won't hurt you."

"I can't count on that," Obito says.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Deidara asks.

"Sure," Obito says, "I have to see you off anyway."

"Hm," Deidara says. He kicks at Hidan's hand and before he turns to leave, gives Obito another wink and blows him a kiss.

Obito clutches his chest as he stumbles away from the inn.

* * *

"This is the second time you've arrived early," Minato comments when Obito shows up near the inn.

Obito frowns. He looks up at the sky and then looks back at his former teacher. "What? I'm just on time."

"Yes and that is a rarity for you, Obito," Rin says.

Obito looks at her, frowns, and then shrugs. "I guess so," he mutters.

"You okay?" Rin asks.

"Yeah," Obito says. He looks at the entrance to the inn and, as if hearing his silent prayer, the door slides open and the Akatsuki members step out, all in different stages of hangovers.

"I want breakfast!" Hidan shouts, causing Kakuzu to wack him at the back of his head.

"Breakfast was part of the deal here at the inn," Minato pipes in.

"He decided to sleep in again," Kakuzu grunts.

Deidara makes a beeline toward Obito, bypassing Rin and standing right in Obito's personal space.

"Hi," Deidara says. "How's your morning?"

"Better now," Obito replies and he breaks into a grin when Deidara actually blushes.

"I hope you guys will make the trip back to your base okay," Obito says when Kisame leans so hard on Sasori that the puppet makes a worrying creaking noise.

"I don't care about them, hm," Deidara says.

"You have to care about your teammates."

"Hm," Deidara purses his lips, looking up at Obito through his eyelashes.

"Stop," Obito says, nudging Deidara's shoulder. He barely pays attention to Minato talk to Pain and Konan when Deidara nudges back.

"Come on, boys," Konan says to everyone. The group of mercenaries and Team Minato begin to follow her.

As they walk, they fill the silence with idle chatter again, at least to those who seem to be unaffected by hangovers, like Hidan, and those who can sustain a conversation.

Deidara stays behind with Obito again, finally telling him about the way his art helped out the group in the contract with the Hokage.

Obito watches with interest as Deidara's face lights up as he describes the way his explosions topple over the enemy and allowed his teammates to deliver the final blow, his chest all puffed with pride.

"You're adorable, you know," Obito says off-handedly.

"What?" Deidara says, cheeks tinged pink.

Obito just smiles and flicks a finger under Deidara's chin. This causes Deidara to blush more furiously.

When they reach the entrance of Konoha, the group stops and say their farewells. More or less filled with sentiment and gratitude, as well as apologies for the outrageous behavior of certain members.

"I hope we see each other again soon," Deidara says when Konan announces that they will be heading out.

Obito glances at Rin, who is busy saying her last goodbyes to Konan, and then back at Deidara and those bright blue eyes. "Yeah," he says, "me too."

"Come on, Deidara," Konan calls out, already halfway out of the gate.

Deidara waves at Konan. His gaze flickers to the ground, to the Akatsuki, then back at Obito. In a flash, Deidara rises ot his tip-toes and presses a quick kiss on Obito's scarred cheek.

Then, in the same amount of time, Deidara rejoins his teammates.

Obito stands there, dumbstruck, one hand on his cheek.

"Wow," Kakashi says.

"What?" Obito asks.

"Nothing," Kakashi replies. His eye crinkles in a knowing smile.

* * *

Hey guys, Red here!

Happy Day 7 of TobiDei Week 2019!

Firstly, accept my apologies for this being a day late. On the last day, as well! I'm so sorry.

I've been feeling very ill for the better part of the morning and took a quick nap. I didn't wake up until 4pm and even then, I wasn't feeling great. My headache came back at around 7 and hindered my writing. Originally, this was supposed to have a smut scene in order to get Obito to properly stop pining for Rin, but I'm way too out of commission to write something like that so I decided to not.

This is also partly a Tumblr prompt sent to me about a year ago. Someone wanted a scene where it's sort of set in a similar universe of _Longer the Waiting_. However, I lost the ask a while ago, so you're just going to have to trust my word for it.

I've set this in a similar universe to _Longer the Waiting_ and _Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie_, where the Third Ninja World War never happened but key people who did die died. Also, despite the fact that a lot of things were thrown into action because of the Third War and theoretically wouldn't happen if it never happened (such as Kisame being part of the Akatsuki) since it is in the movie, I'm going to ignore it and say something else led to them happening.

Thanks for reading!

I'll see if I will write a make-up sex scene when I'm feeling better and if people want it.

If you can donate to my ko-fi it would be great! You can go to ko-fi dot com forward-slash redskiez to buy me a coffee!


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